Section 27-27-29 Principal place of business and home office of domestic insurers; maintenance of assets in state; removal of records or assets; exceptions.
Section 27-27-29
Principal place of business and home office of domestic insurers; maintenance of assets in state; removal of records or assets; exceptions.
(a) Every domestic insurer shall have, and maintain, its principal place of business and home office in this state and shall keep therein complete records of its assets, transactions, and affairs in accordance with such methods and systems as are customary or suitable as to the kind, or kinds, of insurance transacted.
(b) Every domestic insurer shall have, and maintain, its assets in this state, except as to:
(1) Real property and personal property appurtenant thereto lawfully owned by the insurer and located outside this state; and
(2) Such property of the insurer as may be customary, necessary, and convenient to enable and facilitate the operation of its branch offices and "regional home offices" located outside this state as referred to in subsection (d) of this section.
(c) Removal of all, or a material part of, the records or assets of a domestic insurer from this state except pursuant to a plan of merger or consolidation approved by the commissioner under this title, or for such reasonable purposes and periods of time as may be approved by the commissioner in writing in advance of such removal, or concealment of such records or assets, or material part thereof, from the commmissioner is prohibited. Any person who removes, or attempts to remove, such records or assets, or such material part thereof, from the home office or other place of business or of safekeeping of the insurer in this state with the intent to remove the same from this state or who conceals or attempts to conceal the same from the commissioner, in violation of this section, shall, upon conviction thereof, be guilty of a felony, punishable by a fine of not more than $10,000.00, or by imprisonment in the penitentiary for not more than five years or by both such fine and imprisonment in the discretion of the court. Upon any removal or attempted removal of such records or assets or upon retention of such records or assets, or material part thereof, outside this state beyond the period therefor specified in the commissioner's consent under which the records were so removed thereat or upon concealment of, or attempt to conceal, records or assets in violation of this section, the commissioner may institute delinquency proceedings against the insurer pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 32 of this title.
(d) This section shall not be deemed to prohibit or prevent an insurer from:
(1) Establishing and maintaining branch offices or "regional home offices" in other states where necessary or convenient for the transaction of its business and keeping therein the detailed records and assets customary and necessary for the servicing of its insurance in force and affairs in the territory served by such an office, as long as such records and assets are made readily available at such office for examination by the commissioner at his request; or
(2) Having, depositing, or transmitting funds and assets of the insurer in, or to, jurisdictions outside of this state required by the law of such jurisdiction or as reasonably and customarily required in the regular course of its business, including the retention of personal property or securities in a depository outside the State of Alabama for purposes of safekeeping or for the convenient operation of the insurer.
(e) For good cause shown and with the written permission of the commissioner, a domestic insurer may maintain its executive offices outside the State of Alabama, provided it keeps an office managed by one or more officers of the insurer and a complete duplicate set of records in Alabama and further agrees to make all records at the executive offices outside Alabama available to the commissioner of Alabama upon reasonable notice by him.
(f) This section shall not apply to those actions taken by insurance companies prior to January 1, 1972, but only applies to future actions of domestic insurance companies.
(g) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, any company may evidence ownership of its assets by use of a clearing corporation or book-entry deposit system.
(Acts 1971, No. 407, p. 707, §525; Acts 1975, No. 218, p. 744, §1; Acts 1981, No. 81-541, p. 904, §3.)